The Secrets Within
by Translucent Eyes
Summary: We thought we all knew each other. We grew up and fought together, but we never knew each other. Everyone has their own secrets they want to keep. I, too, have my own that I shall not share. That was reality. We know nothing about each other at all. Mx?
1. Chapter 1: Maka's Story

**This is my first story on Soul Eater and first fic on this account. Criticism (and reviews) are greatly appreciated.**

**I've been thinking about this type of dark story about the dark life of several characters before, although for a different anime, but I think Soul Eater would work better for it, especially in Maka's case. I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this plot, although I need to make sure I include plot holes scattered here and there within at least 10 chapters. Advice please!**

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><p><em>It was always dark, even if it was light. The Darkness followed me everywhere I went, like a pet; no, it was more like I was its master and it was my servant. Or maybe it was the other way around, for that Darkness soon consumed me. It went against everything I ever believed in and it took control of my life.<em>

_We thought we all knew each other. We joked around, fought for our lives together, grew up together, but we never learned anything about each other. We just knew what we wanted each other to know. Everyone has their own secrets, but no one wants to let go of them._

_I, too, have my own, and I was determined to keep all of my secrets locked up inside my soul, only to be released when I was alone and desperate._

_That was reality. We know nothing about each other at all._

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><p><em><strong>The Secrets Within: Maka's Story<strong>_

_Chapter One_

The water rushed down the drain, becoming a deep crimson color as it descended. My blood was dark, I noticed somberly. It suited a monster like me. Narrow cuts aligned my wrist as I hung my hand over the sink's faucet. I enjoyed cutting myself; the pain of a blade entering my skin throbbed only for a few dull seconds before it drizzled out into content. Cutting myself made me feel _alive_.

I was a masochist, someone who enjoyed feeling pain. My nasty habit started years back, although I can't pinpoint the exact day. It was around then when I realized that no one cared about me, no one loved me. Nothing was ever going to change. I was worth a nickel at the junkyard. My life was dull, bleak. I was tired of bawling my eyes out, waiting for someone to do something to fix my damned life.

I was sick and tired.

There were firm, hasty knocks on the door, causing me to snap up to attention. My eyes were wide in alarm.

"Hurry up in there, will ya? What's taking you so long?" Soul's deep, baritone voice emerged from outside. His voice was comforting to my ears.

"Hm?" I hummed to signify that I was alright. I was reassured that I was safe as I heard his feet shuffling away. As he did so, he muttered something about "girls and bathrooms" and "taking too long."

Sighing at his antics, I stared at my drenched lower arm. Multiple scars and the most recent cuts marred my pale skin at that area, although the wounds were already trying to close up. The wonders of being a weapon, I suppose. "I guess it's time to stop today," I muttered to myself. I turned off the tap, dried my skin, and pulled down the sleeve of my black blazer, which I made sure to keep dry.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, and it stared back. The dark lines around my dull, sea green eyes were evidence of my sleepless nights. My dirty blonde hair draped around my face, which was filled with sweat and stress. My lips were cracked and dryer than my blazer and I licked it hurriedly before cautiously unlocking the door and quickly treading softly out.

I spotted Soul flicking through channels via remote of the small flat screen television we owned, Blair not far from him. "Why isn't there ever anything _interesting_ on?" he grumbled to himself.

Looking away, I walked briskly to my room, collapsing onto my bed. Reaching for the picture frame on my nightstand, I stared at it. It was a pictures of years ago, when I was six—back when my family was whole and complete, when it was something that could be considered a family. I was wearing a cotton pink picnic dress and my hair was flowing with the wind, my parents sitting lovingly not far away.

I think back to then and wonder what had gone wrong. We were a picture perfect family: beautiful, unified, affectionate. Closing my eyes, I slammed the photo frame on the floor and it shattered into numerous pieces as I continued lying on my bed. Tears started to streak out, and I hated myself for that. It seemed like the only thing I could ever do was cry and cry. I was weak and useless. Weak and useless.

"Hey, Maka, you okay in there?"

I didn't bother wiping away my tears, since I knew Soul respected my privacy and wouldn't barge in without permission. However, I did try to not sound like I was straining when I replied. "Yeah, I just…dropped something." I paused for extra measure. "I'll clean it up later."

"Geez, you're such a clumsy little girl…"

As his presence left my proximity, a cold, numb feeling washed over my body. I felt like a puppet, unable to move by my own will without the control of my master. My body was heavy and my head suddenly gained a thudding migraine.

**Do you want to die?**

_Yes._

**Then why don't you kill yourself?**

_I'm a coward. I'm scared. I fear death._

**You're such a coward. Your pain amuses me. Perhaps I should help you, if you ever need it, to kill yourself.**

_What can you do? You're just a voice in my head._ I'm going insane, talking to myself. I'm turning out to be just like _her_.

**Kehehehe. I'm not just a voice in your head. I am much more than that and you will soon witness my powers for yourself. I know everything about you. I am everywhere. You cannot run away from me, and one day, you will be ensnared in my talons. I will consume your life.**

My mind was blank for a second, comprehending all that I had just heard in my mind. _W-what? Who—what—are you?_

**I am a part of you. I am the subject of scorn amongst you puny mortals. I am the essence of what you call "Darkness." I am in every human, no matter how kind or naïve they appear to be, and when the Darkness inside them rises in strength, I shall be there to overwhelm them, devour them, dispose of them.**

_I no longer care, for my life was a train wreck to begin with. Why can't you just kill me now, oh mighty one? _My sarcasm and cynicism was redundant, but I couldn't help but be bitter at the world, at myself.

**Not yet. It's not your time, yet. You will know when it's time, and I will know when it's time. It's not here yet, but when it comes, **_**embrace **_**it. For now, sleep, my child. Fear, hate, grieve for the world.**

My eyes felt heavy and they closed once again, except this time, I dwelled into slumber, a long-awaited thing that I desperately needed. Darkness compelled me like a lullaby.

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><p><em>BEEP BEEP BEEP.<em> Groaning, I reached for my alarm clock buzzer and proceeded to rising up groggily. It was seven in the morning, meaning that I had slept more than I imagined I was last night. It was the most sleep I had ever had since a while. Briefly stretching, I straightened my crumpled, disheveled clothes and got prepared for school.

As I approached the kitchen, I noticed that Soul was already up, making himself what appeared to be a sandwich. I rolled my eyes and silently made some breakfast of my own. Sitting down with a small bowl of cereal, I continued to eating it. Soul was well aware of my presence, but didn't say anything until moments later.

"You were out like a baby, yesterday," he commented. "Didn't want to disturb your sleep."

I glanced down at my Corn Flakes, swirling my spoon around separate ones. "Mm. I was tired. Thanks." I didn't want to say much else in fear of saying something wrong. Soul might not appear to be, but he was a keen, observant person. It was a required trait for weapons and meisters, really.

After breakfast, I quickly stuffed books and homework into my messenger bag and headed out the door with Soul not too far behind. We walked in a calm silence, Soul making small comments every now and then with me nodding or shaking my head. In all honesty, I wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying. I was contemplating about the event that occurred yesterday. Who was the enigma called Darkness? Was he a threat to the world? That question in particular, though, was pretty much already answered. This creature, deity, being of some sort was debatable in itself. I wondered to myself if I was just out too hard and imagined him up.

"Maka. Hey, Maka!" Soul's voice pierced through my thoughts. I blinked and turned to him. "We're here already..." I looked up and soon saw Death Meister Weapon Academy's entrance up ahead. "Damn, you've really been out of it lately," he mused.

Before I could retort, Black Star's annoying, high pitched voice rung out. "Yahoo!" As his normal routine—which he obeyed daily, almost like a ritual—he was standing on the tip top of one of the school's turrets. How he managed to get up there was a mystery in itself. "I am the man that will surpass God! No! I am _already_ God! Bwuahahaha!" He continued cackling like a maniac, nearly falling off, and we all chuckled, although we were already all used to his frolics.

Tsubaki soon joined us as she embarrassingly gawked at her partner. "It's amazing I'm still with him," she muttered, much out of character. Then she turned to us and said sheepishly, "Sorry for forcing you guys to witness this every day."

Soul shook his head and snorted. "This boy..."

Minutes later, with much convincing, we safely retrieved Black Star and together, the group walked briskly to class. "I swear, if you make us late again, you're going to feel the scourge of my fists!" Soul threatened.

"That's not cool, bro!"

I tuned them out and pushed ahead of the pair, pulling Tsubaki with me. Practically racing to our respective desks, the bell rang and we released a relieved sigh. _Safe!_

Not more than 10 seconds later, Soul and Black Star came in tow, still arguing alongside each other. Stein stared at the two while wheeling himself to the front of the class on his favorite rolling chair. "You two are late." He paused. "_Again_."

Soul groaned. "Not _again!_" He promptly turned to Black Star. "I told you..." The two then turned and looked at Tsubaki and me and I returned the gesture by smiling and waving innocently. "Traitors..."

Stein cleared his throat. "You know the drill. Go to the tardy room and receive a tardy slip before coming back here."

Black Star had anime tears running out as he headed for the door. "Not the tardy room! Anywhere but the tardy room! I'll do anything, I beg you!"

Soul sighed exasperatedly and shoved his friend out the door. "You're still dead either way, Black Star. Don't think I'll let you off."

The rest of the class observed the scene in great amusement, glad to be shaving a few minutes off class time. I was happy myself, for I temporarily was too distracted to remember what had occurred the night before. As I took out my writing utensils, sharpened to the tip beforehand, erasers, which I made sure to keep clean to eliminate smearing, textbook, and notepad, Death the Kid spoke to me. "Don't you ever get fed up with him?" He sounded peeved and annoyed, but I could faintly spot a smile rising from the corner of his lips.

I smiled fondly. "Well, we're all used to it, I guess. I can't help but be forced to live with that, since we were childhood friends."

We both turned back to the front of the room, the space where Stein occupied. "Today's lesson will be over—" Stein never could finish his statement, for an alarm suddenly blared. _Bam, bam, bam!_ We all covered our ears in shock, confused at what was happening. Stein reacted immediately, and for the first time, we all saw him alarmed and even a bit anxious. "Everyone, listen carefully! This is _not_—I repeat, _not_—a drill. Form a straight line and exit _immediately_ and calmly as possible! Head to the gym or cafeteria."

We were all frantic and panicking, but tried our best and do what we were told as Stein ushered the class out the door. Suddenly, the intercom buzzed on and Shinigami's voice came from it. "This is emergency code red-14! Red-14!" No one knew what that meant, but it still sounded pretty dire, by the somber tone of the death God.

As we exited the class and entered the hallway, we were all impacted by the chaos. The line was broken and scattered and we followed the rest of the school population.

"Maka! Tsubaki!" a familiar voice called out to us over the rampage.

Another cried out, "Kidd, Liz, Patty!" The five of us spun around as we pinpointed the source of the voices: Soul and Black Star. "Come here!" We did so.

"What's happening?" Liz questioned, out of breath. While talking, we continued pushing through the crowd.

"We're not exactly too sure, but we overheard something while in the tardy room," Soul shouted. We understood what he meant, since the tardy room was the entrance to Shinigami's office. "One of the security guards come running inside Shinigami's office, and we heard bits of the conversation. Remember that security system that the school had installed a few months back after Medusa infiltrated us?" I nodded in reply, dodging meisters and weapons as we kept on running. The security system was a single device that released a barrier around the entirety of the school. It allowed those with only good intentions to enter the school, and also notified the security guards if something was off. "We think—"

"We think it's about that," Black Star interrupted. Soul shot him a dirty look, but neither of them cared much for it. "The security guard spotted something!"

Kidd looked immensely pissed off. "The tension is _killing_ me! Get on with it!"

Black Star and Soul stopped right in their tracks, forcing us to stop, too. They stared right into all of our eyes. It frightened me, since for all of the years I'd known Black Star, I had never seen him this serious. It was daunting.

He reopened his mouth and the words that we all wanted to know spilled out. "There's a Kishin in our school."

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><p><strong>Chapter end! Finally! This thing took me three days to write in between all of school. T-T Read, review, critique, flame, whatever! O:<strong>

**Edited March 22, 2012.**


	2. Chapter 2: Maka's Story

**This is my first story on Soul Eater and first fic on this account. Criticism (and reviews) are greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks those who added this story to their favorites and alerts and special thanks to those that reviewed! :D**

**And I forgot a disclaimer! This will serve throughout the whole series: Translucent Eyes does not own Soul Eater, only her own crazy ideas.**

**Read the author's note at the end; it's **_**IMPORTANT**_**, trust me.**

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><p><strong>AGES:<strong>

**Maka, Soul, Kid, etc: 16**

**-DMWA Admission: 10**

**-Kishin Arc: 14**

**Stein, Spirit, Marie, etc: 33**

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><p><strong><em>Recap:<em>**

_"What's happening?" Liz questioned, out of breath. While talking, we continued pushing through the crowd._

_Black Star and Soul stopped right in their tracks, forcing us to stop, too. They stared right into all of our eyes. It frightened me, since for all of the years I'd known Black Star, I had never seen him this serious. It was daunting._

_He reopened his mouth and the words that we all wanted to know spilled out. "There's a Kishin in our school."_

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><p><strong><em>The Secrets Within: Maka's Story<em>**

_Chapter Two_

The grass glistened with morning dew as the sun shone on the emerald blades. But there was no time to be admiring nature at the time. The entire school body was jam-packed into the cafeteria and gymnasium. Our clique, consisting of Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Death the Kid, Liz, Patty, and me, occupied the space in the corner next to the door that led to outside. It was an eerie quiet, but we were all expecting that.

Soul was leaning against the wall consecutive to the door, his arms crossed. He managed to maintain his cool image through the chaos. However, I noticed that even _he_ was struggling.

Black Star was crouching a foot or so away from Soul. His face was scrounged up in a look of concentration.

Tsubaki stood next to me, twiddling with her fingers as she glanced worriedly at her partner.

Kid had a blank look on his face, which I foresaw, for he was the serious, cold and calculating type of person. I had learned that within the two years we'd known each other.

His weapons stood next to him, Liz was doing some thinking of her own. Meanwhile, Patti had no idea of what was going on and she was naïvely drawing pictures of what appeared to be giraffes. Once she was done, she held up the paper a few centimeters away from Kid's face, and eagerly exclaimed, "Look, lookie, Kid! Isn't my giraffe pretty?" Liz rolled her eyes and scoffed at her younger sister.

"What are we doing here?" I suddenly found myself asking, anger emanating from my voice. "What are we doing here when teacher's could be out there dying right now?" The others looked up, surprised at my outburst. I could no longer contain myself. "The door's right there," I gestured. "Let's just go.

No one moved or said anything at first, but soon, Kid stood up straight and patted himself clean. "Liz, Patti. Let's go." The Thompson duo traded glances at each other and nodded, transforming into their twin guns.

"I won't let you outdo me! Tsubaki!" Black Star and Tsubaki followed Kid's example. "That Kishin will wet his pants when he spots me!"

Soul and I nodded to each other, and then turned into a scythe. I spun him around quickly, and then we all quietly sneaked out of the cafeteria, praying no one would catch us.

"What do we do now?" Black Star questioned.

Kid glared at him, his guns both fired up. "We'll have to seek out my father or any of the other faculty. Surely they know what's going on." The group moved out towards Shinigami's room, but we all were quick to realize something—even Black Star: it was quiet—_too_ quiet. If there was a Kishin inside the school, then _surely_, there would have been some commotion or fighting breaking out. Since we were outside, we noticed that there was nothing to hint at any sort of skirmish. Kid led us to a secret passage inside the school that his father once told him about. It connected Lord Death's office to outside and vice versa, although Kid didn't specify what the purpose of the room was for.

The tunnel was shockingly clean and was free of cobwebs, meaning that it was still being used until recently. "Walk fast, but conserve your energy," Kid dictated. "We have to prepare for a battle."

The main tunnel soon branched out into tons of smaller ones, to keep out uninvited guests, I suppose. We followed Kid's lead, much to Black Star's dismay, but even _he_wasn't stupid enough to stray from the group. After a few minutes, we soon reached a dead end. "That's what we get for following him!" Black Star shouted, cursing at the Death God. The ceiling of the tunnel seemed to close down on us and was growing smaller as it reached the dead end.

"I see," I muttered, and got on my knees, crawling towards the wall. "The exit is here, right?" I asked Kid, knocking on the wall where the ceiling was lowest at. It was hollow, signifying something on the other side of the wall. Kid nodded, and I used the blunt end of Soul to knock down the wall. Sure enough, light emanated from the hole, and once the light cleared, I saw the inside of Shinigami's office.

"Maka?"

I crawled out of the tunnel and gestured to the others. "Come on."

Outside of the tunnel stood Lord Death. "What you brats doing here?" he asked, almost distressingly.

Kid smoothed out the edges of his collar and straightened himself up before replying, "Honorable father, we have decided to come here in order to help the adults fight the Kishin."

"Yeah! We wanna kick his ass!" Black Star chipped in.

Lord Death rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, though he didn't seem at all surprised that we already knew about the Kishin. "Well, you see..." he started, "we don't actually know where the Kishin is, yet."

"WHAT?"

I punched down Black Star's head. "What do you mean?"

"Hahaha, it seems like the Kishin is in the disguise as one of the students! He or she hasn't acted or anything, so we're unsure of his intent and actions, as well as his current location."

"His intent? It's a Kishin! Of course he doesn't have a kind intent towards this school!" Kid shouted at his father.

Shinigami shrugged. "At this point in time, we can't be too sure of anything. We're still trying to monitor him, but he seemed to disappear from our radar. You kids move along, now. If he comes, you guys can help fight him, but there's no point, now." He stared at me. "And _you_," he pointed at me, "if you encounter the Kishin, I give you permission to use _that_." The others widened their eyes, and so did I, but for a completely different reason.

They stared at me, wondering what '_that_' was. "Y-yes, sir." I thought to the time two years ago, when I first discovered about ability.

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><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

I concentrated on the man in front of me, who I've respected since the time I first fought him. "Why did you need me, Professor Stein?" Several minutes previously, the bell had rang, and he had called me to stay in class. Not that I minded, or anything. I had no one at home to wait for me, anyway.

"Maka," he drawled, a distant, faraway look evident in his eyes. "Do you know what happened when you fought the Kishin?"

I racked through my mind to a month back to the most difficult battle of my life. Images flashed through my mind as I recalled bits and pieces, though there seemed to be a large gap somewhere in between in the brawl. "Um, we were fighting the Kishin, but the others got knocked unconscious and were hurt badly. I was the only one remaining with Soul, until he was damaged, too. Then I was out cold, until I woke up, a searing pain in my abdomen."

Stein released an exasperated breath. "That's all? You don't remember anything else?"

I scrounged up my eyebrows in contemplation. "There seems to be a time where I can't remember anything, when I was unconscious, but that's it." I glanced back up at my professor. "I-is there something wrong?"

"I wouldn't say that it's something wrong…" he muttered lowly, though still loud enough for me to hear. "It seems that you received weapon genes from your father," Stein explained. "It's dormant, though, but the fight awakened it."

My eyes widened, putting the pieces together. "So I can turn into a weapon, too?" I asked hesitantly.

Stein nodded, soberly. "No one knows yet, but Death, your father, and me. After much debating, we have decided to give you a decision."

I leaned in, anticipating.

"Before anything, you have to train in order to fully awaken the weapon inside of you. Then, you have to train the basics so that your power is controllable. Afterwards, you can choose whether you want to stay an official weapon in the DMWA records or resume your position as a meister of Soul Eater Evans." He observed my face for reactions as I maintained a blank look. "You don't have to choose today, if you wish."

I sat in reflection for the two choices I was faced with. "Do you know what weapon I am?"

Stein raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly any specific weapons. You can willingly conjure up curved blades out of your different body parts. Due to this lethal power, it's crucial that you control this newfound ability of yours."

I nodded. My logical half knew that I was weak—I could very well be the weakest out of Kid, Black Star, and me. My new power was a chance for me to show them that I could be strong. My emotional half didn't want to part with Soul, being partners for years. We tried hard to form a connection between the two of us, and I didn't want to rupture years of work.

"Is there," I started tentatively, "is there any way for me to stay a meister, but attempt to become a Death Scythe on my own, without a partner?"

Stein chuckled darkly. "It's not recommended, but since you can stay a human and weapon at the same time, it's very well possible. Shinigami-sama has already declared that if you came up with that choice on your own, you can follow it." I looked up, and smiled eagerly. "However, you must understand that this would mean that your training will be elongated."

"I don't mind extended training. This is the chance of a lifetime."

"I like your attitude, but will you still be saying the same thing after we start?" he mused. "The training will be nothing like you've ever been through before. It's necessary in order to reawaken your inactive, undeveloped weapon genes."

I nodded, determined. "This is my final decision. I won't go back on my word."

And so, my training as a weapon began.

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><p>I coughed, pain spreading throughout my body. Tens of scratches marred my body and clothes, revealing skin and blood. Stein pursued me again, a yellow blast of light engulfing his hands. My legs made a feeble attempt to dodge, but my movement was far too sluggish. His Soul Menace hit me once again, electrifying me, though the pain was more equivalent to a thousand needles.<p>

Stein was relentless, elbowing me in the stomach right afterwards, causing me to cough up blood. "Gah!" I grunted. _I will not scream. I will not cry._ I lunged backwards, away from my opponent.

"Is this all you have?" he questioned, a spine-chilling smirk on his face. "How pathetic. You're so _weak_, Maka-_chan_…"

Weak. Weak. Weak. I was always weak. "No I'm not!" I barked. Even shouting was a toll on me. My legs were no longer hurting as I dashed in a zigzag manner towards Stein; they were numb in exhaustion.

"Then _show me_!"

"GRAAAH!" I aimed a punch at his face once I was a few feet away from him, but he ducked. I reciprocated by quickly using his head as a lever as I leapt off and kicked his back in an airborne position. I expected him to fall forwards, balk, or even wince at the least, but there was no movement.

Suddenly, he spun around, turning the screw on his head. I positioned my arms over my chest as an 'x,' in a defensive position. "Weak," he taunted. "I could barely feel that. Why are you so weak?" His glasses glinted an ominous color. "I tire of games, Maka. Let's end this already."

Something inside me snapped. Something I'd never felt before. It was dark, pitch black, but it was a murky feeling. It wasn't sinister in any way—just _dark_. _Is this what it feels like whenever Soul transforms?_ I wondered. It was similar to when the black blood took over me, though this feeling was less uncontrollable and wild.

"Yes, I agree." I grinned as he narrowed his eyes. "Let's end this!" I roared, two massive blades practically my height appeared in place of my arms. They were slightly curved and looked similar to the blade in Soul's weapon form, although black and silver, as opposed to black and red.

"It looks like you've finally awakened your weapon form, though that's not going to make a difference."

I ignored what Stein had said, darting towards my target. I felt lighter, more agile. This feeling was amazing, almost like a drug to my senses. The rush of adrenaline was numbing, so I could no longer feel any pain. Stein was on guard, blocking my first jab with a dagger. His face was blank, but I could tell that he was struggling, even with both hands.

I slashed with my other blade, forcing him to jump back. I chased after him, giving him slash after slash, thrust after thrust. He dodged and countered each one, though he was rapidly wearing down.

In mid-lunge, he found a small opening in my attack and used it to kick me backwards. I went spiraling and hit the wall, leaving a crack of webs upon it. I groaned, quickly getting back on my feet.

Stein stood still, not far away from me. I dashed back into momentum, and right before my twin swords were about to pierce into his skin, he swerved around. Stein was behind me, the coldness of a knife against my neck.

"You lose," he breathed. He then tossed the knife afar and stumbled outside the room. "Not bad, Maka, although I wouldn't say it was remarkable, either. Keep working on it," he paused, "and maybe I'll actually go all out next time." The door sensed him in front of it and automatically slid open.

I collapsed backwards, tears of pride rushing down my cheeks. A grin took control of half my face and I covered my eyes with my arm. "I did it," I murmured.

_**Flashback End**_

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><p><strong>Chapter end! The flashback part (which is basically the main story in this chapter) only took me an hour or two to write. I feel like I'm on fire! Read, review, critique, flame, whatever! O:<strong>

**I'm starting up a poll on the pairings (which will be active on my profile and on this fic). It will end on chapter five, so vote. You can vote more than once if you want to.**

**Pairings:**

**No pairings - 0**

**Soul x Maka - 0**

**Kid x Maka - 1**


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